Simple Chi Kung_ Exercises for Awakening the Life-Force Energy - Mantak Chia [34]
Use the powers of the mind and eyes to breathe outside energy in through the fingertips, gradually bringing this energy up the hands and arms to the skull, and then down the spinal column (figs. 6.27 and 6.28). A sensation is felt as you breathe into each area.
Inhale and exhale the same way through the toes and then, step-by-step, inhale up to and into the shins, thighbones, and hips. Then inhale up your legs to your sacrum, where the energy will enter your spinal column and surge up through the nervous system.
Finally, breathe into your arms and legs simultaneously, through the seventh cervical vertebra (C7) and up into your head.
Fig. 6.27. Bone Breathing
Fig. 6.28. The flow of energy during Bone Breathing
Remember that you absorb and eject energy more effectively at specific points, many of which protrude from the body: toes, fingertips, elbows, knees, sacrum, Door of Life, C7, shoulders, and nose.
Sacrum Bone Breathing
Because the sacrum controls all the bones and bone marrow in the body, this exercise will benefit all of your bones.
Touch your sacrum and feel the sacral holes breathing and pulsating.
Become aware of the bone marrow inside your sacrum.
Feel the chi rise up from your sacrum and activate all the vertebrae in your spine.
Feel the chi activate your temporal bones.
Become aware of your third eye (between your eyebrows) and feel it open. The third eye is a major gate for receiving cosmic energy.
Rest and enjoy the feeling of being both quiet and energized at the same time.
Bone Compression
This exercise is another means of increasing the flow of chi to the muscles and the bones, in order to squeeze out toxins, sediment, waste material, and negative emotions that have become stored in the muscles. Once these negative elements have been cleaned out, positive ones have room to grow. Positive emotions relax the muscles and the entire body.
Bone Compression practice is also known as the “Power Exercise,” or the dynamic tension that serves to greatly tone up the muscles and strengthen the bone and bone marrow.
Practice the exercise in the following progression: (a) hands, forearms, upper arms; (b) legs, lower legs, thighs; (c) neck and head; (d) back (spinal cord) and chest (rib cage). Feel the muscles and bones separate from each other as you relax.
Inhale as you tighten and squeeze the muscles of the hands, forearms, and upper arms to the bones.
Exhale strongly, releasing and totally relaxing those muscles.
Repeat the above practice for the muscles of the legs, squeezing them all the way to the bone.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the muscles of the neck and head.
Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the muscles of the back and chest.
Complete the exercise by standing upright with your palms resting on your navel. (Men should have the left palm over the right; women should have the right palm over the left.) Stand for a while, and feel the chi flow in your Microcosmic Orbit.
Concentrate on collecting the energy in your navel. Men should spiral the energy outward in a clockwise direction 36 times—being careful not to go above the diaphragm or below the pubic bone—then inward 24 times, finally collecting the energy at the navel. Women should spiral outward in a counterclockwise direction 36 times, reversing to clockwise when spiraling inward 24 times before collecting the energy at the navel.
When you are finished, relax, and use your palms to gently brush any remaining energy down from the chest.
PRECAUTIONS
The following is a warning to all practitioners, especially those with high blood pressure, emotional instability, heart or chest pain, or any acute illness.
If you have high blood pressure, check with a doctor before attempting to practice any exercises. Do not do the exercises and breathing techniques strenuously.
Women may practice the structure, standing meditations, and Bone Breathing practices while pregnant or menstruating.
Be sure that the diaphragm